Love Switch
by Dreamy Dreepy
Summary: An indepentent girl that tries to hide her feelings, and a clumsy girl that just wants to have a fun time. What will happen as those two start living and studying together?
1. Marnie

" Oiiii Marnie! Marnie! Oi! Will you finally wake up, for Arceus' sake!" Piers yelled up to his sister's room. It was early in the morning, and the Gym-Leader was still half sleeping himself. He was holding a letter in his left hand, and hastily searched for coffee capsules with his right hand. „Hm? These capsules - why do they have small holes in them?" he asked himself, while looking closer at them. All of them have 2 small holes in them, as if something bit them. "C-could it be the work of..."

"WHAT ARE YOU SHOUTING FOR PIERS!" Marnie shouted from the top of her lungs while walking barefoot down the stairs to the living room. She was rubbing her eyes and carrying a little Scrafty plushy with her, wearing a pink pajama with little Alcreamies on it. Her hair was down and a mess, her black nail polish has mostly vanished and she wore a Pokeball shaped ankle bracelet on her left foot. "Oi Piers, I'm talking to ya! It's only half past six, whatcha want?" She asked grumpily while approaching her brother.

Piers was still eyeing the holes in the coffee capsule with a comically sad expression. Once he noticed his sister, he quickly put the capsule down and held the letter in front of her "Great news Marnie! Ya see, a couple of months ago, Chairman Rose consulted us Gym-Leaders about the possibility of opening a university in Hammerlocke. He was really passionate about it and now has decided to publicly announce his plans!"

"So what? That weirdo's always passionate about everything - and since when are YOU so passionate about universities? You struggle with the most basic maths!" She exclaimed while smirking and pointing at him.

Piers let out a small chuckle "Yeah, I'm pretty bad at such things - that's why I'm so glad you are here. And that's also why I decided to enroll you to the university! This letter is your letter of acceptance! Congratulations Marnie!" Piers exclaimed happily, while looking at his sister with a proud look.

"W-what?" Was the only thing a dumbstruck Marnie could bring out, before quickly grabbing the letter and reading it.

"Apparently an unused part of the castle will be used for the class rooms and the dorms - sounds really fancy, don't ya think?".

"Mhm..." she mumbled, before putting the letter down and turning around. "Well, thanks and all, but not interested. Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have 3 hours of sleep left."

"E-EHHH? What was that?" Piers shouted nervously and clearly unnerved, before running after her. "Sis, do you know how much of a chance this is? You'll learn from some of the best experts in Galar and become a better Trainer. This is your chance to make the first step of taking over this gym!". He grabbed her shoulder, causing her to stop, but she wouldn't turn around.

"Thanks. But I've already said no." Marnie said in a monotonous voice.

"Why? Tell me why? They've accepted you, and we've talked time and time again that you'll take over for me in a couple of years!".

Marnie started to tremble a little, her voice becoming shaky "Look, I don't want to. Ok? Thanks. Now leave me alone and start thinking about yourself. You don't even have enough money to make any tours like you used to!". The teenage girl shouted before she started to cry.

Piers bit his lower lip, before hugging his sister tightly. "Shhh, don't cry now..." he whispered, patting her head. "I knew there was something on your mind. Well, you don't have to worry about that - when consulting Rose during the initial plans, he offered each Gym-Leader one 100% scholarship. I don't have to pay a single Pokedollar...". He smiled softly, and a single teardrop fell on the ground.

Marnie broke the hug and immediately turned to her brother, who tried to hide his tears "What? Really? Oh ya mug, why didn't ya tell me this from the get-go?" She asked with a bright smile.

"Hehe, the great Piers always surprises his audience with a dramatic twist - no matter if it's a song, a battle or anything else!" He said in a tongue-in-cheek way. He then ran to the kitchen, and came back with something in his hand.

"Huh? What's that, Piers?" Marnie asked with a puzzled expression.

"It's my coffee capsules. See those holes? Morpeko seems to think these are some sort of snack. If you're really that worried about my finances, why not keep your partner in check first?" He explained while letting out a loud laugh. Soon, Marnie joined that laugh, too, before giving her brother a big hug.

"I love you, Piers"

**_Author's note: Well, here it is. Chapter 1. Granted, it's a bit shorter than I thought it'd be, but with university finals approaching, I hope to publish 1-2 updates per week, even if they're short. Generally speaking, I have a larger story thought out, but majority of this fanfic will be SOL. So anyways, if you have anything to share, feel free to leave a comment :)_**


	2. Gloria

„Yeeeees! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Gloria shouted while throwing up her fist with every "yes". She just received a letter that she was accepted to the Hammerlocke University and was ecstatic. In fact, she was in such a good mood, she forgot that it was still early in the morning, and that all the other students in the dorm were still sleeping. However, her celebrations were interrupted when her door was forcefully opened, and three girls ran into the room.

"Gloria, everything ok?"

"Did something happen, Glory?"

"We heard how you started shouting and were scared!"

Two of the girls were still in their pajamas, half sleeping, and talked at the same time, much to Gloria's amusement. The other one was wearing her school uniform and seemed to have woken up a few hours ago, as if she was waiting for something.

"Hahaha, no need to worry you guys. Everything is a-ok. As a matter of fact, even better than merely ok!" She grinned brightly and showed her friends the letter "Remember when Mister Lamper advised me to apply to the Hammerlocke University? Well, I did – and I even received a scholarship due to my grades here!" Gloria was jumping up and down on her toes while talking to her friends, before hugging them tightly.

"Uhm, Glory, I'm really happy for you – but does this mean you'll leave us?" One of the friends asked while breaking the hug.

Gloria's smile suddenly disappeared and she looked down at her feet "Yeah, I guess so Terry…"

"Whaaaat? But what will we do here without you Gloria? You're the reason why I managed to pass last year at all, I'm done for good if you leave!" Another friend said while grabbing Gloria's arm.

"I'm really sorry, Lisa. But I'll make sure to still help you out! You can hit me up whenever you want, and if I can't help you, you still have Julia to help you!" Gloria said while gently stroking her friends hand.

Lisa smiled and hugged Gloria, before she was grabbed on her shoulder by the third girl, Julia "Oh, for Arceus' sake, no one cares about your grades Lisa. Just be happy for Gloria that she got accepted in this new, exclusive, top university. She deserved it so much, after being the best student in the last two years here at the Motostoke Pokemon School after all!" She smiled and extended her hand towards Gloria, firmly shaking the latter one's hand. However, while doing so, Julia's left eye slightly twitched.

"Thank you so, so much for your kind words, Julia! By the way, you applied, too, didn't you? Have you already gotten an answer?" Gloria asked.

Hearing this question, Julia stopped the handshake and smiled brightly "Nope, looks like I wasn't good enough for them! But don't worry, like you always say – you always have to look at the bright side. Now I'm officially the top student here!" Upon saying this, she turned around, treading on her Gloria's right foot with her boot while doing so, before heading out of the room.

Gloria contorted her face, but quickly hid her pain behind a smile and waved Julia off.

"Sooo – when are you leaving? And where will you be staying?" Terry asked, attempting to change the mood in the room.

"Well, the scholarship sadly doesn't include living expenses or a dorm, so I'll have to find someone who'd be willing to share." Gloria answered while sitting down on her bed, before grabbing her friends and pulling them on the bed, too.

"Ha, talk about an easy job. I'll bet you'll make 10 new friends within your first 5 minutes there!" Lisa exclaimed while trying to make herself comfortable on the bed.

"I hope so!" Gloria exclaimed " According to the info brochure attached to this letter, only 36 students have been accepted – it's their first year after all, and they seem to be eager to keep the number as low as possible. 24 boys and 12 girls – so I have eleven possible room mates. And to be honest, with the university attracting the children of rich families or very successful trainers, I doubt that many of those eleven are looking forward to sharing a little room with some girl from the Highlands…"

"Oh come on now Glory, it's not like you to approach things with such a negative mindset – where is the bubbly, talkative girl that managed to convince Miss Jones to take us to the stadium by asking him three times per minute?"

The three of them bursted out in laughter, Lisa even fell down from the bed, which resulted in even more laughter.

"Man, I'll miss you guys – we have to keep in touch, no matter what!"

Lisa and Terry nodded in agreement, before Terry asked "Glory, you still haven't told us when you'll leave?"

"Don't worry about that Julia, I booked a train ticket for Monday next week, the 23rd. We still have lots of time together!" Gloria smiled and hugged her friends, while Terry and Lisa looked at each other with a shocked expression.

"You booked a ticket for the 23rd, did I understand you correct?" Lisa asked while raising her left eyebrow.

"Yup, at 10am to be precise – why are you looking so shocked? Did you want to get rid of me so badly?" She teased while showing them her tongue.

"No, its just that TODAY is the 23rd! You mug made a wrong reservation, and your train leaves in three and a half hours!" The two of them shouted in unison.

"I did whaaaat?!" Gloria shouted loudly while slapping her hands on her cheeks. If there were still students who were sleeping up to now, they sure were woken up this time "Ok ok ok ok, no panic, no panic. I'll run to the administration and do the formal stuff, can you two prepare my luggage please?" She asked while jumping out of her bed, searching frantically for her school uniform.

"Geez – no worries Glory. By the way, your uniform is over there, on your desk." Terry said while shaking her head.

"Thanks guys, you're the best – well, I'm off then!" Gloria sheepishly said while stomping out of her room.

_**Author's note: Merry Christmas to all of you! Well, another chapter done. With Gloria being a player character, she was kind of a blank slate. I decided to make her an easygoing extrovert who is quite sharp – thus she'll have some similarities with Marnie, but the two of them will overall be polar opposites of each other. Next chapter the two of them will finally meet, so stay tuned :)**_


	3. Train Station

"We have arrived at the Hammerlocke station. Please don't forget your belongings. Thank you for traveling with Royal Express." As the doors of the train opened, people were swarming out of it like a flock of Tauros. After the initial wave had left the train, a girl in a pink dress and an old leather jacket stepped out of the train while trying to carry a luggage half of her size. Her black hair was tied together in twin tails, her nails were colored in a matte black and she was wearing black ankle boots with pink soles.

"Sigh, I appreciate my brother's affection, but why did he insist on giving me this large luggage? You could use that to catch a Copperajah should you run out of Pokeballs…" she mumbled under a heavy breath, trying her best to not lose her balance while carrying the heavy suitcase.

A cab driver that saw the struggling girl ran towards her and grabbed the handle "If you'd like to, miss, I can transport you with my Covriknight! No need to carry on your own!" He said while smiling, showing his gold tooth. A few meters away from him was a Covriknight which was peacefully munching on some Oran berries.

"Thank you, but I'd rather if I didn't blow my entire budget for a week within the first 5 minutes!" Marnie answered while pulling the luggage towards her.

"Ah c'mon now miss, I'll make a special offer if money's the problem. I'll even throw in a free guided flight over the castle – an irresistible offer, don't you think?" He asked, while firmly grabbing the luggage "You know, I too have to feed my family – you wouldn't want my children to starve now, would you?".

Marnie started to fumble with her fingers and looked down on the ground, which caused the cab driver to smirk. Just as she was about to accept the offer, the two of them were interrupted.

"Hey, cut it out you bloodsucker! Leave that girl alone!" A girl shouted while running towards Marnie and the cab driver. She was wearing a grey cardigan over a magenta dress, white stockings, brown leather boots and a grey Tam O' Shanter. "Greedy liars like you are the worst – get lost!" She said, before grabbing Marnie and walking away with her "These guys suck – don't you think so?".

Marnie looked at the girl, muttered a barely audible "thank you" and then tried to walk off on her own. However, Gloria was quite persistent, and quickly followed her "You know, I may have helped you with the cab driver, but I seriously doubt that you'll be able to carry this luggage on your own to – where are you heading towards anyways?"

"Look, thanks for the help and all, but you helping me out there doesn't mean that I'm your friend – or that I'll tell you where I'm going to. Now, if you don't mind, please leave me alone." Marnie answered in a monotonous – yet stern – voice. However, Gloria wasn't particularly impressed, and instead of complying to Marnie's demands, she grabbed the handle and helped Marnie with carrying it.

"You know, where I'm from, you help strangers. Well, I'm a stranger in Hammerlocke, too, but I've been here for a week now, so I'm more familiar to this place then y-"

"I don't like repeating myself. I don't know or trust you, so leave me alone. Otherwise, I have to make you leave." Marnie said while subtly exposing a Pokeball in her leather jacket. "Sigh…Why can't people just leave me alone…And I thought after leaving behind my bro and his Gym trainers, the worst regarding overprotective people would be left behind me…" she thought to herself.

While Marnie was lost in her own thoughts, Gloria clapped her hands together and let out a small cheer, enough to get Marnie's attention, who was taken aback by this "Are ya nuts? Why are you so happy about being threatened?" She asked assertively while shaking her right fist, clearly slowly losing her cool.

Gloria simply smiled, and put her hand on Marnie's left shoulder "Let me explain: You are a girl around my age, and a Pokemon trainer, who came here with a large luggage. This means you're going to stay here. However, you are not native to Hammerlocke, otherwise you would've managed to ignore the cabby. Yet you're also no regular tourist, as no tourist would travel with such a large suitcase. Keeping in mind that today is finally the opening ceremony of the Hammerlocke University, I've come to the conclusion that you're one the eleven other girls that will study here with me!".

Marnie looked at Gloria with a confused and slightly intimidated expression. Gloria noticed this, and clapped her hands together with an apologetic expression "I'm sorry, sometimes I can get ahead of myself when understanding something, hehe. My name is Gloria, I will be attending the Hammerlocke University just, like you – nice to meet you!" She once again showed her bright and friendly smile, before extending her hand towards Marnie.

Marnie shook Gloria's hand and simply nodded "The name's Marnie. Nice to meet you." With that, she grabbed her luggage and starting to walk again, much to Gloria's surprise.

"H-hey, wait, let me help you! The campus is 20 minutes from here if you walk, you can't carry all those stuff on your own. I know this because I came here-"

"One week earlier, right? You've told me already. Look, I can take care of myself. I was a bit surprised by the cab driver, that's all – I would've taken care of it, so please stop the whole knight in a shining armor act. If there's not anything urgent, I'll see you at the campus." Marnie said while accelerating her steps. However, Gloria jumped in front of her, causing her to stop.

"Actually, there is a rather urgent matter I need to talk about. I rented a room, but I can't afford it on my own. So I'm searching for a roommate. Believe me or not, but all the other girls I asked so far have refused. Would you be interested in becoming roommates?" She asked while slowly pushing herself up in the air with her toes, hands behind her back.

Marnie was caught off-guard by this question, and started to think. To be frank, she didn't want to be roommates with anyone, and would prefer to have a small place to retreat, where no one will bother her. However, Piers mentioned to her that her scholarship would only cover half of her rent, and that he would cover the other half. Knowing about her brother's financial struggles, Marnie actually planned to pay for half of the rent herself by finding a part-time job. Even if she would accept Gloria's offer, she would probably need a job to cover for other expenses, but it would reduce the pressure on her shoulders drastically.

As Marnie was once again arguing internally what the right thing to do was, Gloria hugged her tightly, happily exclaiming "As my home room teacher back in Motostoke used to say – if you think about something for longer than 10 seconds, you simply try to find excuses. I guess this makes us ro-"

"Sorry for interrupting you, but this is a terrible advice. Do you really think someone can decide on such a complicated matter in a few second? I need some time alone, see you later at the campus for the opening ceremony." Marnie said, picking up her luggage – struggling a bit with the weight – and continuing her way.

Gloria nodded with a sad expression, and checked her mobile. She opened up the group chat consisting of Lisa, Terry, Julia and her. Everyone read her messages, but since 3 days, no one has been answering. She put her phone back and tried to fake a smile, before heading towards the university.


End file.
